Dec 16, 2012

Kudos on New Math Achievements

A Guest Post by Dr. Harold Goldmeier

Dr. Harold Goldmeier, originally from Chicago, Ill. and more recently from Bet Shemesh, Israel; harold.goldmeier@gmail.com; Dr. Goldmeier is a business management consultant and writer with a special interest in education and NGOs.

I have been writing about the fragile nature of science
and math education in Israel for several months. STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)
education scores were falling or teetering on the edge prompting university
professors to speak out about the need to prop up the system. Our high school
students did very well in international STEM Olympiad competitions around the
world this summer, but more is expected from most of them.

Apparently, things are improving. In
the past four years, international high school student math achievement test
scores climbed. Israel is now firmly in seventh
place worldwide. Their science test
scores moved Israel’s high school student ranking into 13th place
among the 42 countries according The Trends in International Mathematics and Science
Study. Our fourth grade student reading scores moved Israeli youngsters into
eighteenth place from thirty-first place since 2006.

Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar
and his staff deserve praise for providing the money and leadership resulting
in these impressive gains. Since 2009,
Sa’ar annually leads the fight to increase the budget for these subjects
securing an increase from NIS 38 million to NIS 450million. Now the results are coming in. In other
advanced countries, education budgets are sinking proving more is never
achieved by spending less.

Teachers in the classrooms,
principals, parents and students deserve special recognition for these achievements.
Their hard work put the money to good use.

Hopefully, the next government of
Israel will understand what this means.
To build on the new momentum, the government must

Keep Sa’ar in his current position. Nothing ensures successful turnarounds over
the long term like continuity of the top people.

Continue expanding STEM budgets, teacher pay, and
improving curricula to reach children in all grades in public and private
schools. A vibrant and healthy STEM education program will positively affect
the nation’s economy into the future, and these are the subjects that can
appeal to religious educators and minority community leaders looking to ease
the access of their children into the workforce.

Consider appointing a special community advisory board
to advocate for even greater commitments from the government and private
sector, and advise these folks on how they might best invest their resources.
Higher education programs generously supplement the Ministry’s initiatives,
while private companies and NGO’s donate money and the expertise of their
employees for special school programs.

Lets keep up the momentum, and show
the world and us that Israel is number one in the world in its commitments to
quality and universal education.

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About Me

I am a regular Joe with a Yeshiva background. I learned in Telshe Yeshiva, Heichal HaTorah (R' Tzvi Kushelevsky), and a now defunct Halacha Kollel. I have semicha from R' Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and kaballa in Shechita from Dayan Schwartz of Kehillas HaYeraim (Chomas HaKashrus). I have a college degree in Finance from Touro College and am also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.
My wife and I, with our 8 children, ben porat yosef (knayna hara), live in Eretz Yisrael.